Cespedes Scratched From A’s Lineup Again

The A's finished the first half of the season in dramatic fashion. After being no-hit through six innings, the A's Josh Donaldson hit a tying two-run homer in the seventh and then hit a two-out single in the 11th to give Oakland a 3-2 walk-off win over the Red Sox.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Home Run Derby champion Yoenis Cespedes was not in the Oakland Athletics‘ starting lineup for the second straight game because of a sore left wrist.

According to manager Bob Melvin, Cespedes was hurt during the third round of batting practice on Friday. The second-year left fielder from Cuba hasn’t homered in his last 19 games, after averaging a homer for every 19.0 at-bats in the majors prior to this drought. He hit 23 last year as a rookie.

Only four previous Home Run Derby champions hit fewer than 10 after the break – Justin Morneau (2008), Bobby Abreu (2005), Garret Anderson (2003) and Ken Griffey Jr., who was limited to 24 games during the rest of the 1994 season because of a strike that wiped out the final 40 games of the Seattle Mariners’ schedule.